A Bend in Time - Chapter 592

Forcing her gaze back to the ancient volume, Rowan returns to reading Salazar Slytherin's words only to startle at his following words.

"I have failed to cast the Malice curse and tether the curse, I was betrayed-. And thus, I can no longer trust in those around me especially Godric's Mudblood Gryffindors."

"Wait, what?" Rowan muttered in uttered bewilderment as her eyes widened at her sudden suspicions. Was it possible that Salazar encountered Hydra?

Rowan's mind races as she begins to match updates with that which knew and had been told. The Hassan clan would have split more or less during Herpo, the Foul's time. Hundreds of years later, based on Salazar Slytherin's own words and during the discovery of her own research, she knew that the first apprentice had betrayed Herpo, the Foul. And the second lesser-known apprentice had fled with Herpo, the Foul's evil research.

Suddenly the dots come together as Rowan pieces the strange rune mark that appeared after Wilkes death. The second apprentice! "Yes, that's it," she mumbled to herself.

Rowan's mind raced as the pieces of the puzzle fit to form a macabre puzzle. "The Puppeteer hidden in the shadows," she whispered to herself as she recalled the serpents' warning.

"Beware of the Hydra that comes in the shadows of the night. Beware of the Hydra that hides in the phantoms of the past. And beware of the Hydra that hunts in the shadows of the light and the day."

A hysterical laugh escapes Rowan, before a grave expression appears on her face. "So, the second apprentice completed Herpo, the Foul's work. He found the means to prolong his life by constant rebirth and never tasting death, H-Y-D-R-A."

The memory of Potter brat comes to mind, a living breathing Horcrux, but one with its own soul. And if Potter could be a Horcrux, and Credence's Obscurial possessed an almost impossible power to regenerate then why could one not make something in between? But more importantly, after having perfected the art, eternal life was guaranteed.

Rowan's hand trembles at the sudden revelation as a sickly expression appeared on her face. Then Salazar Slytherin through beyond a shadow of a doubt was somewhat evil and malicious had not acted in such a manner without cause. And as maddening as that sounded, he had done so to prevent an even greater tragedy. It was something she had never dreamed of sharing with her misguided ancestor, who was not so misguided in the end after all.

Hurriedly Rowan returns to her previous spot and keenly reads ahead.

"Descendant trust no one and especially those mudblood's. Mudblood's are far too easily found and taken. And though weak they are not; they are not taught in our ways and have no means of resisting it. Godric nor Helga nor Rowena understand my actions, they all call me arrogant, power-hungry, and obsessed. Perchance I am all those things, but I have not yet gone mad.

I have seen it trying to creep in through our hallowed doors, but it cannot yet enter these walls except through another. Thankfully, the wards hold true and only one can enter at a time, but I fear with my departure and our natural passing away the wards will begin to crack and allow more of it inside. And as for the guardian chosen by Godric and Rowena, I hold no faith in it. It is a stupid arrogant beast that knows nothing of survival and cunning. And it will surely be slain by it with ease."

Rowan's lips twitch with an ironic smile as that tone of voice sounds all too familiar and belonging to Aunt Georgine. Well, they were related, after all, she thought, before glancing back down.

"Before I depart, I shall leave behind one of my Basilisk's, the male out of the couple which, I have hatched. I shall take the female Basilisk with me, but their egg, I shall entrust to you, Descendant to do as you see fit. The male Basilisk will remain behind to guard Hogwarts and bind that vile abominations movement until its natural demise."

Rowan visibly winces at the statement with some guilt. And though she now somewhat regretted her course of actions, she did not regret her decision in the end. The male Basilisk would not have acknowledged her commands and as for the egg-. Well, she had no confidence in taming such a dangerous beast even with all her abilities. And some things are never meant to be tamed, and a Basilisk was certainly one of them.

Sighing to herself, Rowan turns the page to read the last paragraph that was written for the rest of the pages of the journal were left blank and empty.

"I depart with righteous anger and rage, but with the full knowledge that I did all that which I could. I shall depart to nevermore return, but still, I will trust in Marcellus. And though Marcellus's vision is limited, he too shares my unspoken fears. He will do all that which he can to bind Hogwarts safe, but without my presence, I fear that Rowena's thirst for knowledge and Godric's rashness will go unchecked even with the aid of Helga at Marcellus's side."

"Marcellus?" Rowan whispered out loud. Who on Earth was that? Though that name sounded vaguely familiar. Just where had she heard that name before?

"I would say trust in Marcellus, Descendant, but I suspect his future plans. And that is once we have all departed from Hogwarts, he will bind his own life force to Hogwarts to further protect her and seal the cracks that will be forged with our departure. However, it is clever, and I do not doubt that the abomination will find the means to enter the grounds. Thusly, I can only advise, Descendant, trust no one and be infinitely far more clever.

And so, I bid you farewell, Descendant. May the serpents always be with you, and guide you, that you might bring eternal glory to our glorious name.

-Salazar Slytherin."

Rowan was left stunned by the final words of Salzar Slytherin in so much that she read them all again especially the part that read as, "And though Marcellus's vision is limited, but he too shares my fears." Did that statement mean what she believed it to mean? Was Marcellus a farseer as well?

Swallowing a trace of bile, Rowan has the absolute certainty that was indeed the case. And she was far from being the only farseer in existence, Merlin was as well. In retrospect, it made plenty of sense why Salazar Slytherin had left Merlin, a powerful, promising student of his behind and in the care of Hogwarts. This Marcellus character would have taken care of Merlin and taught him in Salazar's stead especially if he was a farseer as well.

A cold shiver raced down Rowan's back as she ponders the ramifications of that thought. Four wizards and witches from the farthest corners of Great Britain unite in common cause to build an impossible magical feat that has yet to be replicated. This Marcellus must be the fifth member of their group, but why is his name not synonymous with theirs? Unless he did not wish for it to be or just as likely his name had slowly been erased by with the passing of history.

Rowan rubs her weary eyes and tries to pull her brain cells together to think. Firstly, why had Hydra targeted the Hogwarts founders? Unless of course, the four founders would have been powerful to pose a real danger and were capable of destroying Hydra at that point in time. But that was near a thousand years ago, and much had changed then.

Still, in which case, there is a plausible suggestion that there is a limitation to Hydra's ability. If so, that would suggest that only a certain number of puppets or other-selves can exist at a time. The question is rather how many times can a soul be split before it ceases to exist?

Recalling Arithmancy with Professor Vector, Rowan begins to quickly count and add prime numbers until she comes to a conclusion, 127. According to Professor Vector magic could only overlap so many times in a spell pentagram/matrix or ward, before causing its own destruction. The result was that a ward or spell matrix could only be inscribed a total of 127 times at most. And the rule of magic applies to all things including Hydra.

"One hundred and twenty-seven times," Rowan whispered out loud before wincing. That was far too many enemies to have and only one of her. Naturally, that also ignored the question of how long it would take to create more to recuperate the loss. And the answer was that she truly did not know nor knew enough to even guess what the requirements and conditions that would be required for another creation.

However, there was one thing Rowan knew for certain. And that was that muggleborns seemed to be the easiest target for Hydra, but that did not exclude anyone else. And that was her worst fears coming true.

A particular yawn forces Rowan out of her solemn contemplation causing her through blurry eyes to gaze at the time. The time read as 4:05 a.m. If she left and went to sleep right now, she'd only get one or two hours of sleep. And she had a very long day ahead of her.

Exhausted both in mind and body, Rowan somehow manages to put the volume away before blindly teleporting back to her shared dorm. Too tired to remove her clothes, she falls into bed with shoes and all, before promptly falling asleep mere seconds later. To only be awakened two hours later by her alarm clock. It was definitely going to be a long day.